86 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 29, 1880. 
rows may be placed 15 inches apart, but 18 inches or more is 
better. If the seed is good it cannot be sown too thinly, and 
the plants cannot be thinned-out too early, as short stems from 
the first is a sure foundation for good, healthy, well-shaped 
roots. Fly is not troublesome now, and at the first thinning 
the plants may be left 3 inches apart. In a week or two after¬ 
wards every other one may be taken out, and in the end they 
may be left about 12 inches asunder. This latter distance is 
not too much in shady or very rich ground. Like Cabbage the 
seed may be sown at two or three different times, from the 
first to the last of August. 
SPINACH. 
Of all winter vegetables this is one of the most useful. 
Where a variety of vegetables have to be supplied it is quite 
indispensable. There are only two varieties of Spinach really 
worth growing, the Round-seeded and the Prickly-seeded. The 
former is the best for summer use, and the latter should be 
sown for winter and spring use. The seed should be sown at 
intervals of fifteen or eighteen days during August and Sep¬ 
tember. That sown in August will give a supply previous to 
the new year, and the later-sown will come in during spring. 
Moderately rich ground and an open dry position are advan¬ 
tages in the culture of Spinach. We generally sow it in rows 
18 inches apart. When ground is scarce we have sown it 
between the rows of autumn-planted Cabbages. The seed should 
be sown very thinly, about inch below the surface, and as 
soon as the plants begin to meet in the rows they must be 
thinned-out to 6 inches or more apart. In severe weather a 
little bracken or straw thrown over them will afford a useful 
protection. 
ONIONS. 
Those sown at the present time are mostly of the Rocca and 
Tripoli type. They are grown for two purposes—viz., drawing 
while young for salads, and growing on to a large size for 
spring use in the kitchen. When grown to be drawn in a 
small state it is not of much consequence when they are sown, 
but when they are intended to be grown to maturity more care 
must be taken with them. When sown too early, and if they 
become very large in autumn, they generally flower in spring 
without “ bulbing.” As a rule we find them best when they 
are only about 2 or not more than 3 inches high in February. 
To have them like this then we sow the seed about the second 
week in September. In some districts it might be sown earlier, 
and in others a little later ; but in this, as with all other pre¬ 
carious crops, it is best to sow two or three times. Autumn 
Onions should be sown on deeply-dug and well-manured soil in 
an open situation. Beds may be formed from 3 feet to 5 feet 
wide, or the seed may be sown in successional rows. From 
10 to 15 inches should be the distance between the rows. If 
any worms or grubs are suspected to be in the soil a heavy 
sprinkling of soot or a light coating of salt should be dug-in 
with the manure, as it is very unsatisfactory to see Onions 
killed befare they are half grown. The seed should be sown 
thinly, the young plants not being thinned until February or 
March, when those drawn out may be planted in another piece 
of ground to form a crop. When wanted as salad, however, some 
may be drawn during any part of the winter, leaving sufficient in 
the ground for a crop. The White Naples comes into use earlier 
in spring than the Roccas, but for size and keeping well the 
latter are preferred. 
LETTUCES. 
These when they can be kept fresh and healthy are much 
valued in winter, and to have them good at that time the seed 
should be sown early in August, as the plants must become 
large before the end of October, for they will grow little after¬ 
wards. The Black-seeded Bath Cos as*d All the Year Round 
Cabbage are two good varieties to sow now. We seldom sow 
the seed where the plants are to remain, but prefer raising the 
plants in small beds. The soil in whieh they are planted should 
be moderately rich, and the situation should be warm and 
sheltered. It is generally on south borders and near the bases 
of walls that we plant our Lettuces after this time. Nine 
inches apart each way is a good distance to have them. Should 
the weather be moist at the time of planting a sharp look-out 
must be kept for snails. Later batches of seed may be sown 
at the end of August, and again about the middle of September. 
To supply young plants from the seed bed early in spring as a 
first crop “ All the Year Round ” is a fine variety. 
ENDIVE. 
This is treated in all respects like the Lettuce, but the last 
seed is sown not later than the beginning of August. The 
plants from this sowing give a supply of heads during Decem¬ 
ber, January, and February; late plants intended to come 
in after that time only run to seed before they are large 
enough for use, and are therefore not worth growing. The 
French Moss Curled and Green Curled Winter are two old 
varieties not yet surpassed. 
RADISH. 
There are many good spring and summer Radishes, but the 
winter varieties may be confined to two—viz., Black Spanish 
and the China Rose, oval-shaped. During August and the 
early part of September two sowings may be made out of 
doors in a sunny sheltered position, but during the latter part 
of September the seed must be sown in frames if Radishes are 
wanted at Christmas and after that. In all cases the seed 
must be sown very thinly, as it is only by admitting plenty of 
light and air to the roots that they can be induced to swell. 
The soil should also be very firm and not very rich. In winter 
Radishes keep a long time fit for use after they are fully 
grown ; they must, however, be allowed to remain in the 
ground, and be protected in very cold or wet weather. 
CAULIFLOWER. 
The cultivation of this need not be entered into at the 
present time, but it may be useful to remark that to have 
plants to stand the winter, and be ready to plant out the first 
opportunity in spring, the seed should be sown from the middle 
to the end of August. Early London and anybody’s Extra 
Early may be usefully sown at the same time. The seed may 
be sown inside a frame on any south border, or in a small 
patch to be covered with a frame when severe weather comes. 
Thinly grown plants wffiieh have never been “ coddled ” in any 
way are those which turn out most satisfactory in spring.— 
J. Muik. 
COLEUSES. 
Varieties of these plants have increased so rapidly of late, 
that persons desirous of growing a limited number must be con¬ 
siderably perplexed if they have no other alternative than nursery¬ 
men’s catalogues to guide them in their choice. Captain Aubrey 
Patton, however, has come to the rescue by exhibiting the greatest 
number of varieties that has ever been placed before the public 
in one group, and has consequently afforded an excellent oppor¬ 
tunity for making a selection of those sorts that appear to be the 
best worth cultivating. Out of 150 varieties arranged at South 
Kensington on the occasion of the evening fete on the 21st inst., 
nearly 130 were placed in commerce within the past two years, 
indeed many of them were new varieties of the present season. 
Some of the plants were therefore necessarily small, having been 
struck from very small cuttings in June, and none of them were 
propagated before May of the present year. A few of the larger 
plants were 3 feet high and the same in diameter, ranging down¬ 
wards to a sixth of that size. Several of the forms are certainly not 
beautiful ; they possess coarseness without colour. The leaves of 
others are so much cut, so deeply lobed, as to give the plants almost a 
ragged appearance, while some of the pale-foliaged varieties, almost 
albinos and destitute of chlorophyll, are evidently bad growers, 
and unless a Coleus grows freely it is scarcely worth cultivating. 
Those that are free in growth, distinct, and bright in colour, and 
there are many of them, are useful for the decoration of conserva¬ 
tories in summer and stoves in winter and early spring. They are 
most easily cultivated and seldom troubled with insects unless 
mealy bug prevails, and if this once affects them, which it is very 
liable to do, it is no easy task to eradicate it. The following are 
some of the most striking varieties which were included in the 
group in question. 
Dark Varieties .—The finest of these is undoubtedly Allen 
Chandler, sent out by Messrs. Carter & Co. It is a stately plant ; 
leaves 7 inches long without the footstalk, and 5 inches wide, of a 
thick velvety texture suffused with magenta crimson. Both under 
sunlight and gaslight it is very brilliant. It showed to great dis¬ 
advantage when submitted to the Floral Committee in the dull 
Council-room on the 13th inst., otherwise it would probably have 
